AN: I don't own anything. All mistakes are mine and mine alone (and I will forever blame them on the fact that English isn't my first language).

This would take place right after CA:TWS and before any Avengers raiding parties have started.

It wasn't that she was unfamiliar with the tower, she had visited it and even stayed many times before (at Stark's insistence). It wasn't that she disliked the building, regardless of all its extravagance and glamour, it was actually a very welcoming structure, designed by Tony himself to accommodate each Avenger and see to their particular needs.

So no, it wasn't that she disapproved of the tower, the reason for her lagging through the front doors and delaying in her pace as she made her way across the lobby over to the elevators. Nor was it the thought of running into Stark, for she had just done so; a quick bumping into the other where he was quick to apologize, followed by the reminder of why she was 'welcomed to stay as long as you, so long as you don't hack into JARVIS- again.'

Tony had been in a rush -no doubt to get to California (Natasha had managed to overhear Pepper on the phone Tony had been talking into, causing him to bump into every piece of furniture he owned down there) - and so he had not really thought much of what he had uttered to her. Then again, Natasha thought, when had Stark ever paid much attention to anything he ever said to her?

Natasha managed to reach the elevator and press for the 12th floor as Tony had instructed her to do so in a rushed tone.

Yes, listening to Tony Stark talk about the falling of SHIELD which served as a casual reminder that she had been living on the run for the past month, clearing name after name, going after every scrap of paper she could salvage from SHIELD's files after it's less than gracious fall had been the thing to trigger Natasha's -uneasiness.

Her whole life had been dedicated to SHIELD, to the organization which had been helping her clean the red out of ledger, the one thing in her life she had grown to depend on, and it had been taken from her, right under feet, left with nothing but moral and political problems all around the world. Solved cases which were now questioning the verdict because of the corruption inside the organization, families wanting answers for their deceased members, men wanting to reclaim their thought to be well invested money. Most importantly, she was left exposed to the world, not one cover intact, her political and work records out there for the world to finally view her for what she was made to be, a Black Widow. Years of trying to work in order to be something more than what they had made her to be, and the world still ended up seeing only the assassin, the machine -the monster.

The more she thought about it, the more her queasiness grew, a sensation she was neither proud nor used to feeling. Her brain screamed at her to skip the 12th and the lab altogether and head straight for the kitchen and the liquor cabinet, which she knew to be up on the 20th floor. But she had promised Tony she would deliver the files, and Natasha thought it a bad way to start living at the man's property, by not keeping the promises made to him.

So she gathered herself, stood a little taller, let her straight hair fall down without a break or curl and squared her shoulders as the elevator dinged upon arriving at the 12th, her first stop in her journey to what would now become her permanent residence -at least until she could find something for herself (job included).

The elevator dinged announcing her arrival, but the sole occupant of the entire floor didn't appear in her line of view as she stepped out, her boot clad feet not making a sound.

"JARVIS?" She found herself asking for the ever present program.

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff?" The British voice replied, ever pleasant, ever there.

Natasha ignored the dreaded feeling which threatened to surface within her by being addressed as nothing more than a civilian. She had never been a simple name, she had always worn a title, and -contrary to what she had always believed of herself, she found herself not at all comfortable with being stripped of her titles so suddenly.

"Is Dr. Banner around? His boyfriend told me to-"

"Natasha, hi!"

Natasha raised her eyebrows at his flustered greeting and at him –his hair looked shorter. She had heard his fumbling footsteps the second after she had asked her first question, her ears always sharp and looking for any sounds of disturbance -or flustered scientists.

"Doctor." She acknowledged him, a simple nod with a guarded face which reminded Bruce a bit too much of the Agent he had met down in Calcutta. Bruce had read and seen the news -Tony had gotten drunk to the point of drunk dialing Pepper and threatening to blow up the Tower if she didn't show up- so he knew about the fall of SHIELD, HYDRA's infiltration and -most importantly- about Fury's death.

In truth, Bruce had never been a great fan of the great Director, though he mourned his death as he would of any human, but he understood the importance of him and how people (like Natasha and Barton) had relied on him. Still, Bruce pondered, he had never been a great fan of people who kept secrets and then used their ability to manipulate people with them. A contradiction -his mind informed him, one which had him lightly chuckling and then clearing his throat as he realized the object of his amusement was looking at him puzzlingly.

Well, there was one person he had grown to liking who tended to manipulate people. But then again, they had barely spoken ever since they had beaten the Chitauri, so he didn't really know where they now stood; she had gone back to work, he had stayed at the Tower and played babysitter with Tony. Still, he had found a respect for the red headed woman he hadn't ever given a spy before, her curious, knowing smile after he had returned to New York etched inside his mind, 'We could use a little worse'.

"Um, you were telling JARVIS something about Tony." He muttered, his voice a little hoarse from being cooked up in his lab all day long, not really speaking to anyone but occasionally to himself.

Oh, he had heard then, Natasha thought as she took in the good doctor, his lab coat on and his thin glasses a bit askew, his voice hoarse with what she assumed was lack of use. He truly fit the lab-rat persona she had always attributed to him.

"Yes, Stark told me to give you these and to remind you, you still haven't eaten lunch and it's nearing five." She informed as she handed him the files Stark had, more or less, thrown at her minutes before. "Your boyfriend sure keeps an eye out for you."

Bruce chuckled at that, his eyes planted on the documents he had received from Natasha's hand, Tony's last review notes on the damned 'Hulkbuster' Bruce never wanted to even consider using.

"Yes, when he remembers to feed himself and doesn't have Pepper taking care of him."

Natasha found his comment amusing, glad in finding his sense of humor seemed to match hers. For all she knew of the good doctor (for she had been thorough when Coulson had informed her she had to go and recruit him), she didn't really know much about him. She quirked her head a bit as she suddenly came to the realization that, like her, Bruce Banner preferred keeping his emotions to himself.

A silence which could be described as awkward fell upon them, Bruce reading and Natasha debating on whether to continue her journey up or stay and study the scientist a little bit more, intrigued by her sudden discovery.

"How many suits has Stark built since I last saw him?" Her voice broke the silence and brought Bruce back to earth, his eyebrows raising as he came to notice the fact the spy was still in his lab, her arms crossed and her neck extended so she could read over the reports currently in his hands. Bruce removed the files from her view, gripping them closely to his chest, as if he were protecting them. Natasha smirked at his childish impulse.

Bruce fixed his glasses and furthered into his lab, "Depends on when was the last time you saw him." He gave her an answer, thinking that with it she would probably be leaving the lab.

The decision came to her quickly -she followed him. Besides, Natasha thought, Clint had said she needed some kind of distraction. She didn't think getting settled into her forced new home counted as one.

"Hulkbuster. Who thought of the name, you or Stark?" It was a tease, one which took Bruce by surprise, turning around to observe her, his eyes guarded and confused.

Out of all the things Bruce had thought could happen on that day, Natasha Romanoff trying out small talk with him, inside his lab, had definitely not been one of them. Last time he had seen her had been at one of Tony's parties, all of the Avengers had been present and he had spoken to her briefly, tried to apologize for the hundredth time for what the Other Guy had done up in the Helicarrier. She had been polite enough to accept his apology, much like the rest of the times he had already asked for her pardon. But still, the burning question of 'Does she really mean it?' was always present whenever she would smile after telling him 'Apology accepted, doctor. Although I've told you, the Big Guy was a lot of help out there. I think you've more than enough earned a break.'

"Uh, me, I guess. Tony filed it under Mark XLIV, but I threw out the uh, other name when we were discussing whether to make the suit or not."

Natasha raised her eyebrows in curiosity. Not the answer she had been expecting.

"It was meant to be taken as a joke." Bruce found himself trying to justify the ridiculous name Tony had insisted on using. Though, in all fairness, it had been a joke.

"Well, this is Stark we're talking about." She agreed, diverting her gaze from him, taking time to observe the different kinds of equipment he had. Machines and boards she recognized, other she didn't. It was a well-equipped lab, then again, Stark was as resourceful and generous as he was chaotic and impulsive.

"Yeah, that's Tony." Bruce added, his voice low and soft, lined with a hint of affection and discomfort. Natasha suppressed the amused smirk which threatened to appear on her face -she was trained to do so, agent or not. She had thrown Bruce of his balance, the fact was not hard to see. The doctor guarded his thoughts fiercely, all real emotion hidden from the world and from her (something which was not an easy task), but his distress and nervousness showed clearly.

"Do you need anything else, Agent Romanoff?"

Both cringed as he uttered the words. Bruce knew about her current predicament, the last words Tony had uttered to him before literally running out of the lab had been 'Oh and Romanoff is coming in, staying until she can get a mission, or a job, or something which will probably involve scheming someone into misery and/or confusion.'

Bruce had nodded and shrugged the notice off, had thought it very unlikely to meet the ex-spy on that day, deciding to stay in the lab to finish some of the projects he had been postponing because of the work on Veronica.

"I'm not an Agent anymore doc." She turned to look at him again, "Kinda in the hunt for a new job actually. So uh, if you know anyone in need of my services be sure to ring me up. I have many skills you know, just not kicking aliens out of the sky." Natasha approached the situation as she knew how, with a teasing smirk and humor in her eyes. Her respond made Bruce blink.

"Yes," he mumbled out, "I heard about Fury. I'm sorry, about him and for you losing your job and the whole…" He tried to apologize, his words suddenly running from him. "I'm kind of familiar with that, so I know it can be sometimes hard -adjusting." He cringed at his own words, even to his own ears they ended up sounding stupid. She was a master spy, not some burdened, complicated, ethically questionable science professor. He had no call on how she could handle a situation like this one.

Natasha nodded as he talked, remembering the files she had read on him, everything from his abusive home to his disappearing acts -both of them. He wasn't a stranger to having your whole life suddenly shaken and changed right before your eyes. He wasn't a stranger to betrayal either -his own body could betray him if he let himself let be careless. So maybe he didn't quite understand what her mind was thinking, but he was the closet human who could try and empathize with her, Natasha appreciated his effort.

"I've had better days, if that's what you're implying. But thanks anyway."

Bruce offered her a weak smile and hoped she would accept his strange apology, feeling like a right ass for rubbing in the fact she didn't hold the title of Agent anymore.

It turned awkward again after that, with Bruce not knowing what else to say to the former spy. He respected her and definitely admired her, but he still had no idea how to talk to her.

Natasha figured it would now be the best time to follow on up, try and find the room Stark had raved to her about which would 'fit her perfectly'. But she couldn't bring herself to it, to go on up and face the fact she was now homeless and jobless. Being on the run, going from place to place, trying to fix the mess HYDRA had created had given her a sense of purpose, a feeling that even if SHIELD had fallen, she could still do something in the world. But the storm was calming the world slowing and taking the time to sort out its last problems. Nick Fury would be 'buried' in a couple of days and Natasha had been called to testify in front of the Pentagon. So back in the US she found herself, hit with the reality of it all -she was nothing.

The words brought a shiver down her spine and Natasha shook her head, ridding her mind of such thoughts. She wasn't nothing, she was Natasha, a strong, intelligent and quick woman, a fun aunt, and on some days: an Avenger. She was simply out of a job.

"Tony said you would be staying here for a couple of days?" His voice was smooth, a little apprehensive and doubtful, but his words reminded Natasha that she was still in is lab, taking time from him and whatever it was he was trying to work on.

"Yes, I have been called to Washington, so I'm staying here for some time." She answered, moving towards him.

With his mind half occupied by a calculation which was plastered on one of Stark's smart boards and half on her, he ended up asking "And after?"

It was a genuine question, Tony had never really specified how long a time she would be staying.

Natasha shrugged in response, moving towards him a bit, finding his little startled jump at suddenly finding her near him amusing.

Because Bruce (barely) understood the fact she had forgiven him and the Other Guy because of what the Hulk had done in the battle of New York, he understood she could greet him and not run away from him whenever she saw him; she was, after all, one of the strongest people he knew. But what he couldn't understand at that moment was her easiness at being so close around him, her persistence at staying and simply observing him and the lab, calmly taking everything in.

Natasha couldn't fully understand it either. She simply knew she had been dreading the fact she had come into the tower with plans on staying there and most thoughts had been pushed aside as soon as she had taken notice of the working doctor.

So she ran with it, with her natural curiosity of learning a bit more about the closed-off scientist and his work inside Stark Tower -or Avengers Tower as Stark had renamed it.

"Not sure yet. Get a job, find a place where I can be sure no one will come and try to carry out their revenge against me."

"Well, that sounds like very thought-out plan. Money, safety- every man's dream." He replied to her, his eyes never leaving the smart board, his fingers going over something making it move around and settle on the other side of it.

Natasha followed his movements with intrigue, Bruce Banner in his natural habitat, finally relaxing in her presence. He was a calm spirit, he reminded Nat of Laura Barton and her steady and unyielding patience (both with her and Clint). He was -easy to be around, a little awkward and silent, but his sense of humor seemed to match hers and for that, Natasha was grateful.

"And Stark Tower doesn't offer you said accommodations?" She decided to throw at him, her eyes on the board, following his hands as they moved around.

"It's Avengers Tower according to Tony. And you have met Tony, right?"

Natasha chuckled, followed by a raising of eyebrows as she noticed Bruce's amused expression directed towards her.

Bruce did not understand what exactly had happened, how from awkward she had managed to get him at ease and back to work without the tension-filled air. He did know he was grateful for it, he didn't dislike Natasha, and he didn't want any stress brewing between them.

"Right, well so much for safety then." She smiled a sly grin which Bruce hadn't seen on her before and found himself appreciating. The tentative conversation a fresh change from what working at the lab with Tony usually entailed. And Bruce smiled a small grin to himself as realized the most probable reason for him taking to Natasha as easy as he had. Unlike Tony, who usually strutted into his lab with a loud voice and talking a mile a minute, she had come in with steady and slow steps, talking with a calm voice and not exploding in a rant about a particulate which would accelerate the deployment of his current suit.

The silence which followed her comment finally wasn't the awkward one which had accompanied them before. Bruce continued working and Natasha observed, either trying to understand what he was working on the board or reading over some of the files he had scattered around the various tables.

Every now and then Bruce found himself asking her for help on something, his tone always cautious and unsure. Natasha locked her eyes with him, her face blank, but relaxed, gladly doing whatever it was he needed help with.

"What about working in one of the labs? You've been a lot of help today." He told her as they each tried to balance a compound on the scale.

"As much fun as today has been doc, I don't think I'm cut out for this." She answered him, her eyes fixed firmly on her scale, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. Bruce suppressed a chuckle, she definitely looked the part of scientist like that.

"Well, you're much better than Tony, he usually ends up breaking at least one of my test tubes every time he comes in here."

"I don't doubt that." She agreed. "This one's done." She called out, her voice carrying a hint of satisfaction in it.

He turned towards her tube and mix and took it from her hands with a delicacy Natasha couldn't help but stare blatantly at. For such an anger-filled man, who carried a force within him which could easily destroy even the toughest of buildings, Bruce Banner was a gentle man. The paradox perplexed her and intrigued her more than she cared to admit. Finding all these qualities in the scientist made Natasha wonder why she hadn't ever bothered to try and spend more time with him before, he was -refreshing, something different to what she was used to dealing with.

"Ok, so we're adding the reactive to this in ten minutes."

"Why?"

"Because the particles in the compound we just mixed have to activate, react with each other, before I add the finishing reactive element."

Natasha nodded, eagerly listening to his explanation, enjoying how his eyes lit up as he explained the reaction, amazed by his own work. He was good at explaining things, never underestimating her ability to understand him. His enthusiasm was also contagious.

"Which would help in proving the -" She added, motioning towards the long formula written on the piece of paper in front her.

"Yes, if we get a positive reaction."

She nodded again.

"I did mean it though." He voiced after a few minutes of silence, sneaking a glance at her from above his thin-framed glasses. She turned to face him, her face blank from expression, making Bruce nervous all over again.

"You'd be good use in a lab, especially one with a lot of computers." Lame Banner, he thought, that was lame. But she didn't say anything, or change her expression at all.

It took almost a minute for her to respond, her brain going a mile a minute trying to come up with a response which would be appropriate to give. Finally realizing she had none, she turned to look at him, her mask fallen.

"Not my thing. I don't think I'd do well inside the same four walls for an extended period of time."

Bruce nodded, understanding her statement. She was used to moving around, hunting and defending, carrying out the dangerous jobs -the lab would bore her to death no doubt. He suddenly felt stupid for even suggesting the idea, but he had gotten more done in the few hours she had stayed (hours, really?), than he had managed to during the past week.

"A valid reason." He responded, meaning every word of it and finding himself perplexed at realizing he was now starting to care about what Natasha Romanoff thought about him.

If someone would have told Bruce he would come to befriending Natasha on an awkward meeting after she had just lost her job and lifestyle, he would have probably laughed at the idea, not believing any of that were possible. Yet, as the woman reminded him that it was time to mix in the elements, he realized -or more like hoped- he found himself wishing a friendship had indeed been born.

Natasha did not have many friends, it was a burden which had come with the job and the fact she had been raised in a form of isolation. Clint had been her first friendship, something born out of debt and gratitude, something which had taken years to build. Fury had been close to a friend, both of them keeping too many secrets from the other to actually be considered more than close acquaintances. Steve had been a working partner with whom she had developed a nice platonic relationship which reminded her of her earlier friendship with Barton, but without the deep emotional baggage.

She was still learning to befriend, to understand that sometimes there could be a connection between two people without hidden meanings or motives. She guessed it was fitting, how when she had started trying to get people to trust her, all her covers had been suddenly blown, forcing her into being honest, into recreating her life.

Then she had stumbled across Bruce - and she had finally felt the genuine curiosity of getting to know someone. It was a new feeling, and Natasha decided she both liked and hated it. It made her feel -vulnerable, but at the same time, made her feel like the human she had been trying to be ever since Clint had helped her get out of the KGB.

"Well, sun's getting low. I better head on up, before Stark has JARVIS check up on me and finds out I'm out of my chambers past curfew." She gave him a side glance with one of her flirty smiles, not expecting the sudden flush which came upon the doctor's face.

"Yeah, you -should."

Natasha laughed softly, making her way towards the elevator doors.

"Good night Bruce." She called.

"Good…" Bruce started but interrupted his own phrase, "Hey, if you ever want to amuse yourself sometime in the future, just know you're welcomed down here anytime."

Natasha could tell it took courage for the man to tell her that, and she could not help but give him a small smile.

"Told you already doc, I don't do well inside walls. But thank you, for the offer and for-", Natasha hesitated, but if she was going to try and start a friendship with Bruce Banner, she figured it was best to do it right –no lies. "For not rubbing SHIELD or my past in my face."

Her confession startled Bruce and made him stare up directly at her, observing the softness of her face, her calm mask gone, replaced with the tired and beaten up expression of one Natasha Romanoff.

"Not a problem, although, I haven't exactly read the leaked files. I didn't really need any more arson to fuel my dislike for the organization, so I decided against it. And as for you? Well, same as you told me; you did well on the battle of New York, I think you more than anyone deserves a break."

Natasha was startled by his meek confession, and for the first time in a long time (if ever) her face displayed the wonderment. Bruce Banner was many things, Natasha decided, but most importantly, he was a good man; and she felt that out of everything else (job and home included), what she needed most right now was exactly what Bruce Banner could be: a friend.

"See you around, Banner." She called to him and pressed the call button. Bruce only nodded, not sure about what exactly had just occurred, but finding himself enjoying the feeling of whatever it was.

He watched her go, her step as firm and steady as ever, with her head held high and her hair in the same perfect straightness it had been in all day. Natasha Romanoff was a lot of things, some of them (most of them) not even real; but for reasons Bruce thought it best not to ponder over, he felt as if he had just spent an evening with the real Natasha, the woman who had been left inside her after HYDRA had taken all the other personalities from her. Bruce found himself enjoying who Natasha Romanoff was.

The next morning, Bruce got up early, as he usually did, made himself a quick coffee and put on his lab coat, already thinking on what he could do to make the compound he had fabricated yesterday even more stable. He didn't run into Natasha, as he had assumed, nor did he have any messages from Tony or Steve. So he ran to his lab, set up his equipment and checked over what Natasha and he had done the previous day.

He hadn't expected her to come down, knew his suggestion had been silly and created on an impulse. He thought her to be probably be hitting the gym or one of the many other training facilities he knew Tony had built. So he almost let one of his tablets fall to the floor upon hearing the elevator ding at his floor, the high pitched sound being followed by both JARVIS' smooth voice and the soft -and almost silent- patting of feet across the floor.

"Ms. Romanoff, sir."

AN2: Ok, two in one week, what is happening to me? The title came from google translate, so I've no idea if it's correct or not, but according to google it means 'beginning' in Russian.

I know there's been a lot of 'pre-AOU' works, but I thought I'd take a shot at writing one. I felt like I really wanted to write that first conversation these two had which didn't include apologies or ulterior motives, and because I really feel that after TSW Natasha had to reevaluate certain aspects of her life, and as we see in TWS with her relationship with Steve, trust and friendship are things she struggles with but I think she wants. So I personally think that it was that potential for a calm and easy going friendship what drew her towards Bruce in the first place, then came the whole 'wow we're actually not that different' emotional baggage, leading to the 'I adore this man'.

So this is me, stopping my unnecessary ramble.

And hopefully this is you, clicking on that review button.

x

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